PC | GDC Awards, Sony press briefing streaming live on GameSpot

Thursday's Game Developers Choice Awards ceremony and Wednesday's suspected motion-controller unveiling top coverage of San Francisco event; write-ups of Meier, Pardo, Molyneux, Pitchford, Muzyka, Sakamoto, Yamaoka, Toriyama, and Schafer talks also on tap; full schedule inside.

SAN FRANCISCO--The 2010 Game Developers Conference began today with the Independent Games Summit kickoff, a session on "guerilla" development, and a (very) brief talk by Caleb Arseneaux from Scribblenauts developer 5TH Cell. Tomorrow morning, the main conference will start with a series of presentations, including talks by BioWare co-founder and CEO Dr. Ray Muzyka, Bungie creative director Joseph Staten, and Electronic Arts COO John Schappert.

Though not as flashy as E3, GDC still draws a big crowd of game development's best and brightest.

The event will shift into high gear at 4 p.m. PST Wednesday, when Sony Computer Entertainment will hold a press conference. Though no details are yet public, the company is expected to use the event to show off the PlayStation 3's motion-control system, widely believed to be called the "PlayStation Arc." GameSpot will be on hand with both live video streaming and liveblog coverage, accessible from the main GameSpot GDC page.

Thursday will see full coverage of presentations by Silent Hill composer Akira Yamaoka, Metroid co-creator Yoshio Sakamoto, Naughty Dog's Richard Lemarchand, Lionhead's Peter Molyneux, and Blizzard Entertainment's Rob Pardo. Besides the arrival of the latest NPD report, there will also be a special live GDC edition of Today on the Spot, broadcast from the nearby GameSpot Studios at 4 p.m. PST.

Sony is expected to show off the PS3 Motion Controller at a press event at 4 p.m. Wednesday, March 10. GameSpot will live stream and liveblog the event.

That evening, GameSpot will exclusively stream the Game Developers Choice Awards, hosted by Deus Ex and Thief creator Warren Spector, who is currently at work on Epic Mickey at Disney Interactive Studios. Uncharted 2 will be the most-nominated game at the ceremony, which will also see id Software's John Carmack take home the Lifetime Achievement Award for over 20 years of work on the Doom and Quake series.

Valve Software's Gabe Newell will receive the 2010 Pioneer Award for his work on the Half-Life, Counter-Strike, Team Fortress, Portal, and Left 4 Dead series. The ceremony begins at 6:30 p.m. with the Independent Game Festival winners, followed by the main awards show approximately a half-hour later.

Friday morning coverage begins at 10:30 a.m. PST, with GameSpot's liveblog of GDC keynote speaker Sid Meier, founder of Firaxis games and creator of the iconic Civilization strategy series. Also scheduled are write-ups of presentations by Gearbox Software's Randy Pitchford and Final Fantasy XIII writer Motomu Toriyama, as well as sessions covering Batman: Arkham Asylum, disabled gaming, and Xbox Live achievement data.

GameSpot will also be covering a panel which will see Pardo, Muzyka, and other industry heavyweights discuss how online connectivity will become more central to games in the future. That afternoon will also see another live edition of TOTS at 4 p.m.

Warren Spector will host the 2010 Game Developers Choice Awards, streaming live at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday night.

GDC 2010 wraps up on Saturday with sessions focusing on Mass Effect 2, Shadow Complex, and Assassin's Creed II. Ubisoft Montreal's narrative director Richard Rouse will give a talk on evoking serious emotions, while Double Fine CEO Tim Schafer will host a panel discussing (what else?) comedy.

For more on these events and all the latest screenshots, videos, previews, interviews, and breaking news, keep your browser set to GameSpot's ongoing 2010 Game Developers Conference coverage.

GAMESPOT'S GDC 2010 COVERAGE - SCHEDULE OF EVENTS

TUESDAY, MARCH 9

Scheduled Sessions:

--"From Big Studio to Small Indie: Guerrilla Tactics from Hello Games " - Sean Murray (managing director, Hello Games)

--"Indies and Publishers: Fixing a System That Never Worked" - Ron Carmel (Co-founder, 2D Boy)

--"5TH Cell: From Mobile to Handheld & Beyond" - Caleb Arseneaux (Producer, 5th Cell)

--IGF KEYNOTE: "Increasing Our Reach: Designing To Grab and Retain Players" - Randy Smith (owner and game designer, Tiger Style)

BioWare CEO Ray Muzyka will share his thoughts on building blockbusters franchises like Mass Effect.

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 10

4 p.m. PST: SONY GDC 2010 PRESS CONFERENCE, speakers and subject TBA. - Streaming LIVE w/ text liveblog accompaniment.

Scheduled Sessions:

--"Building a Blockbuster Franchise" -- Joseph Staten (Creative Director, Bungie), Ray Muzyka (CEO and General Manager, BioWare Corp.)

--Indie Gamemaker Rant! - Various speakers

--Mythbusting Fireside Chat - John Schappert (Chief operating officer, Electronic Arts)

--"The Relentless March Towards Free…and What it Means to the Games Industry" - Kristian Segerstrale (vice president and general manager, Playfish)

John Carmack gets a GDCA Lifetime Achievement Award Thursday night.

THURSDAY, MARCH 10

4 p.m. PST: Today on the Spot LIVE: Special GDC Edition

6:30 p.m. PST: Independent Game Festival Awards - Streaming LIVE!

~7 p.m. PST: Game Developers Choice Awards, hosted by Warren Spector - Streaming LIVE!

Scheduled Sessions:
--"Achievements Considered Harmful?" - Chris Hecker (definition six, inc.)

--"Among Friends - An Uncharted 2: Among Thieves Post-Mortem" - Richard Lemarchand (game designer, Naughty Dog)

--"As Long as the Audio is Fun, the Game Will Be Too" - Akira Yamaoka (Grasshopper Manufacture Studio)

--"Building an Open-World Game Without Hiring an Army" - Nate Fox (game director, Sucker Punch Productions {Infamous})

--"Creating a Unique Visual Direction: The Successes and Failures of Creating a Near-Future Cyberpunk Setting with a Renaissance Twist in Deus Ex 3 " - Jonathan Jacques-Belletete (Art director, Eidos Montreal)

--"Epic Games/Unreal Engine 3 Media Briefing" - Speaker TBA

--"From Metroid to Tomodachi Collection to WarioWare: Different Approaches for Different Audiences" - Yoshio Sakamoto (Group manager/software planning and development department, Nintendo)

--"Making a Standard (and Trying to Stick to it!): Blizzard Design Philosophies" - Rob Pardo (VP, game design, Blizzard Entertainment)

--"Peering into the Black Box of Player Behavior: The Player Experience Panel at Microsoft Game Studios" - Bruce Phillips (User researcher, Microsoft)

--"The Complex Challenges of Intuitive Design" - Peter Molyneux (Head of studio, Lionhead Studios), Josh Atkins (studio design director, Microsoft Games Studio)

--"What Happened Here? Environmental Storytelling"- Harvey Smith (Game director, Arkane Studios), Matthias Worch (Senior level designer, Visceral Games)

Civilization creator Sid Meier will deliver a keynote at 10:30 a.m. on Friday, March 12.

FRIDAY, MARCH 12

10:10 a.m. PST: GDC KEYNOTE: "The Psychology of Game Design (Everything You Know Is Wrong)" Sid Meier (Director of creative development, Firaxis Games)

4 p.m. PST: Today on the Spot LIVE: Special GDC Edition

Scheduled Sessions:
--"Accessibility Arcade: Bringing AAA Game Titles to the Disabled Through Controller Hacks" - Michelle Hinn (Chairperson, IGDA Game Accessibility Special Interest Group), Tara Tefertiller (VP game industry relations, Right to Fun Foundation)

--"Borderlands and the 11th Hour Art Style Change. Or: Kids, Don't Try this at Home! " - Brian Martel (Co-Founder & chief creative officer, Gearbox Software), Randy Pitchford (President and CEO, Gearbox Software)

--"The Crystal Mythos and Final Fantasy XIII" - Motomu Toriyama (Scenario writer for Final Fantasy XIII, Square Enix)

--"The Art Direction of Batman: Arkham Asylum: Rebooting a Super Hero Video Game IP" - David Hego (Art director, Rocksteady)

--"The Connected Future of Games" - Min Kim (Vice president, Nexon America Inc.), Ray Muzyka (CEO and general manager, BioWare Corp.), Rob Pardo (VP, game design, blizzard entertainment), Brian Reynolds (Chief designer, Zynga), Jason Holtman (Director of business development, Valve)

--"Double Header Analysis: Xbox Live Achievement Data and Intellectual Property Trends in Video Games" - Geoffrey Zatkin (President & COO, Electronic Entertainment Design and Research), Jesse Divnich (Vice President of Analyst Services, EEDAR)

--"The Game Design Challenge 2010: Real-World Permadeath" - Eric Zimmerman (Independent), Heather Kelley (Founder and game designer, Kokoromi), Erin Robinson (Independent Game developer, Wadjet Eye Games), Jenova Chen (Co-founder, thatgamecompany), Kim Swift (Project lead/game designer, Airtight Games)

--"Console Wars Revisited: Are We Breaking the Mold or Reliving History?" - Don Daglow (President & CEO, Don Daglow Interactive Entertainment)

SATURDAY, MARCH 13
--"Designing Assassin's Creed 2" - Patrick Plourde (Lead game designer, Ubisoft)

--"Designing Shadow Complex" - Donald Mustard (Creative director, Chair Entertainment Group)

--"Five Ways a Video Game Can Make You Cry" - Richard Rouse III (Narrative director, Ubisoft Montreal)

--"Make 'Em Laugh: Comedy in Games" - Tim Schafer (CEO, Doublefine), Rhianna Pratchett (Freelance scriptwriter and narrative designer, Independent), Sean Vanaman (Writer & designer, Telltale Games), John Teti (Games writer, The A.V. Club)

--"Rock Band Network: Postmortem" - Matthew Nordhaus (Senior producer: design, Harmonix Music Systems), Caleb Epps (Senior sound designer, Harmonix Music Systems)

--"Where Did My Inventory Go? Refining Gameplay in Mass Effect 2)" - Christina Norman (Lead gameplay designer, Bioware

Shank GDC 2010 Combat Gameplay Trailer [HD]

Source: http://www.gamespot.com/pc/action/doom/news.html?sid=6253220